Smith admits he should have challenged Cutler's fumble

Former NFL vice president of officiating stunned Bears coach didn't ask for replay at the time

October 25, 2010|By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter

Earlier this month when the Bears started their roster shuffle of defensive linemen, Lovie Smith declared, "We don't have any regrets."

The head coach found one Monday, when he admitted he should have thrown the red flag for a replay challenge when Jay Cutler fumbled on a quarterback sneak at the Redskins' 1-yard line early in the third quarter Sunday. Replays showed the ball crossed the plane of the goal line before London Fletcher knocked it out.

Certainly, the Bears stood a better chance sending referee Walt Anderson to review the fumble than the play before, when Earl Bennett's knee was down after a 48-yard reception before he reached the end zone. A replay clearly showed Bennett had not scored, and Smith wound up wasting a timeout and a challenge.

"Yes, I should have," Smith said in a rare admission of error. "Normally, if there's a critical situation, I throw it whether I have a good look or not. I didn't have a great look on it. I need to be able to make that call."

Former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira, now an analyst for Fox Sports, was stunned Smith didn't challenge the play.

"I am flummoxed that the Bears would choose to challenge the previous play and not this one," Pereira wrote in his column. "We can talk all day about officiating mistakes and the impact they have on a game, but this was clearly a mistake by Smith and his coaches that may have cost them the game."

The Bears were leading 14-10 at the time and a touchdown would have dramatically changed the complexion of the game. As it turned out, the fumble was the first of six second-half turnovers.

As indictable is the fact that the offense apparently ran the play the wrong direction — directly at 335-pound defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who was to the left of center Olin Kreutz. The Bears had the timeout from the Bennett review to call a play, and instead of going away from Haynesworth, they went right at him.

"We didn't execute the way we needed to on that play," Smith said when asked why they challenged what had been a sleeping giant. "Just say that."

Smith is 1-for-5 on replay challenges this season, 3-for-15 since the beginning of 2009 and 18-for-58 overall. He cited losing a challenge and timeout on the previous play as one reason he didn't challenge the Cutler fumble, and went to the logic he has been using on failed fourth-down conversions at the 1 this season — the defense was playing so well, he figured another chance would come along.

"I thought we were in control of the game," Smith said. "We've given the opponent the ball at the 1-yard line before and forced them to punt it and I felt like we would get the ball back right away, which we did, and we failed to get it back down."

Smith relies on a combination of his viewing angle, the feedback he receives from coaches in the box, and instinct in deciding whether to throw the flag. In the box are assistant defensive backs coach Gill Byrd, tight ends coach Mike DeBord, defensive line coach Eric Washington and quality control coaches Andrew Hayes-Stoker and Mikal Smith, Lovie's son.

"We have people that are talking, but let's keep in mind, there's a reason why the officials didn't call it, because it's a close play," Smith said. "Did we get a great look to know for sure? I thought Earl got in the first time, but it didn't turn out that way."

NFL rules mandate that only a monitor with the live game feed can be used by coaches in the box. That means they're seeing the same thing fans see in their living room.

"From it, there wasn't a good enough reason to do it at the time," Smith said.